NEXUS 5 DRIVER INSTALLATION GUIDE

You’re probably visiting this page because you’ve run into a drivers problem on your Nexus 5 while working with either adb, fastboot or just while connecting the device to PC for transferring files. It’s annoying to know that you’ve a drivers issue on your PC, and it gets even annoying when you can’t get it installed right.

Anyway, Google has been kind in providing USB drivers for all Nexus devices. And in most cases they work just fine. But however, it’s not an .exe file that a noob user could install without any help. So follow the guide below to get the proper drivers installed for your Nexus 5.

METHOD 1: LG UNITED MOBILE DRIVER

As an anonymous user pointed out in comments section below, the LG Nexus 5 is a 100% LG device, only sold and marketed by Google. So support for the device will completely fall in the hands of LG, which goes to explain why Google hasn’t included driver support for Nexus 5 in Google USB Driver yet.

Anyway, the LG United Mobile Driver supports the Nexus 5, and has been reported working fine. You may want to try it out if other methods aren’t helping your case.

INSTALLING LG UNITED MOBILE DRIVER

Run/Start the LG United Mobile Driver’s .exe file that you downloaded from the downloads section above.

Follow the on-screen instructions that the software gives you while installing drivers

Once LG United Mobile Drivers has finished installing, connect your Nexus 5 to the computer. It should get detected.

[ad1]

METHOD 2: UNIVERSAL NAKED DRIVER

Looks like the Google USB driver package isn’t supporting Nexus 5 at the moment. So another good option to get drivers installed would be the Universal Naked Driver package. It has been recently updated with support for adb and fastboot drivers for Nexus 5.

DOWNLOAD UNIVERSAL NAKED DRIVER

Download the Universal naked driver from the link below and extract the zip file (using 7-zip, preferably) to a separate folder on your computer.

You will see list of all devices attached to your computer in the device manager. And if any drivers for Nexus 5 are installed, right click on the entry and select ‘Uninstall‘, then ‘Ok‘ to confirm.
└ If there are no previous drivers installed for your Nexus 5, then you’ll find your device name in in the ‘Other devices‘ list with a yellow exclamation mark

Windows 8 users: Disable Driver Signature Enforcement

Skip this step if you’re not using Windows 8!

Windows 8 and 8.1 users need to disable the driver signature enforcement feature to be able to install the universal driver package.

Open/click ‘Settings‘ from the slide-in panel on your Windows 8 PC which appears when you hover your mouse over the right corners of your computer’s screen, then click on Change PC settings/More PC settings

Now select General tab, then scroll down to the bottom and select ‘Restart now‘ under Advanced start-up heading

Install Universal Naked Driver

You will see list of all devices attached to your computer in the device manager. Just find Nexus 5 (it’ll most probably be in the Other devices list with a yellow exclamation mark) and Right-click and select Update Driver Software…

Select Browse my computer for driver software in the next window

Now click the Browse… button and select the folder where you extracted the downloaded Universal Naked Driver zip file (filename: Universal_Naked_Driver_0.73.zip). Do NOT select the zip file, select the folder where the contents of the zip file are extracted. And keep the Include subfolders box checked

During the installation (as a security check) Windows may ask your permission to install, just click Install

Once the installation is complete you’ll see a refreshed list of devices on the Device manager screen showing Nexus 5 driver installed successfully

METHOD 3: GOOGLE USB DRIVER

Support for Nexus 5 hasn’t been added to Google USB Drivers yet, but the Nexus 4 drivers that are included in the Google USB Driver package are reportedly working for the Nexus 5 as well.

NEXUS 5 DRIVER INSTALLATION GUIDE

You will see list of all devices attached to your computer in the device manager. Just find Nexus 5 (it’ll most probably be in the Other devices list with a yellow exclamation mark) and Right-click and select Update Driver Software…
└ Screenshot

Select Browse my computer for driver software in the next window└ Screenshot

Now click the Browse… button and select the folder where you extracted the downloaded Google USB Driver zip file (filename: latest_usb_driver_windows.zip). Do NOT select the zip file, select the folder where the contents of the zip file are extracted. And keep the Include subfolders box checked└ Screenshot

During the installation (as a security check) Windows may ask your permission to install the drivers published by Google Inc. Click Install└ Screenshot

Once the installation is complete you’ll see a refreshed list of devices on the Device manager screen showing Nexus 5 driver installed successfully└ Screenshot

Nexus 5 ADB and Bootloader/Fastboot drivers?

Well, the guide above is same for installation of Bootloader and ADB drivers as well. So if you’re running into Bootloader or ADB specific driver issues, just try the guide above. And make sure you connect your Nexus 5 in that particular mode to be able to install drivers for it.

For ADB driver

First enable USB Debugging on your Nexus 5

Then connect your Nexus 5 to your computer with a USB cable and follow the drivers installation guide above

For Bootloader/Fastboot driver

Put your Nexus 5 in bootloader/fastboot mode:

Power off your device and wait for 5-10 seconds until the device is fully switched off.

Press and hold Volume Down + Power button together and release them as soon as you see the bootloader screen.
└ You’ll see an Android robot. And the first line on the bottom left corner would read FASTBOOT MODE in red

Now connect your Nexus 5 to your computer with a USB cable and follow then drivers installation guide above

TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS!

It may happen that drivers get successfully installed on your computer, and yet you are unable to get your Nexus 5 connected to your computer. It can be easily resolved, follow the steps below:

Connect your phone to computer with a USB cable and open Device manager on your computer

Right click on the ‘Android Composite ADB Interface‘ entry and select uninstall

In the uninstall pop-up that appears, tick ‘Delete the driver software for this device‘ checkbox and press the ‘Ok’ button.

Connect it back to your computer, and let the computer re-install drivers automatically. If it doesn’t re-installs driver, try toggling the ‘USB debugging’ option on your phone

If it still fails to completely recognize your device in all three modes — MTP, ADB and Fastboot. Then try installing the drivers again following the drivers installation guide above (preferably Universal Naked Driver or Google USB Driver)

Other tips:

Connect your device to other USB ports on the computer

Try different USB cables. The original cable that came with your device should work best, if not — try any other cable that’s new and of good quality

Reboot computer

Try on a different computer

That’s all.

Feedback us!

Let us know which drivers method worked best for you in the comments section below.

Shivam is our resident designer and web developer who also enjoys writing. He loves to meditate, drive on the freeways and hunt for snipers during his Call Of Duty playtime.
Email: shivam@theandroidsoul.com